How would you feel about squatters taking over your home?

[aldric13]

As a long-time home-owner I was really incensed to read about a family who had moved out of their home whilst they had renovation work done in their home who had squatters move in. The family that own the property were living in rented accommodation and have 3 children who were all very distressed about what's happened. Even though now the court has issued an eviction order for the squatters to move out, it will be some time before they actually leave. What incensed me even more was that the utility company (I think it was the gas company) insisted that the owners must continue to pay the bills for the people who were squatting. Personally speaking, we had work done on our home 3 years ago and we moved into my parents who live just down the road, I can't imagine how awful and angry I'd be if squatters had moved into MY home that I PAY for with MY hard earned money and expect to live there for free. I know there are laws in the UK which protect squatters' rights which I think are a huge joke. I don't see under any circumstances why the law should protect what is essentially a bunch of thieves moving into a propery that someone else owns and pays for and expect to live there for free. I know there are a lot of people that sympathise with squatters and their situation but I have NOT one inch of sympathy in the idea that someone could move into my home whilst I go on holiday or even to visit a sick relative. I can't understand why the law would protect these kind of people and then even when an eviction order is issued it can take 3-6 months to get these people out. Listening to the radio the other morning, I heard the story of a woman whose aunt had died and squatters moved into her home. The woman went around there with her husband and kicked the door in and after a tussle with the squatters, managed to kick them out, the police were called and pretty much told the couple well done for getting them out or they'd have had to go through court orders and wait months and who knows what damage they would have done in the meantime, never mind the fact that the couple allowed them time to pack and during this time, the squatters actually had the gall to steal some of the valuables in the house... If someone tries to break into your home whilst you're actually in there, the police can take action against them and arrest them so why is it that if you're away for a few days and people break in and move in the police can't forcibly remove and arrest them? It's a joke, as far as I'm concerned... What do you feel about squatters' rights and do you think my opinion on these type of people is too harsh?

[hewlett]

I dont think your opinion is too harsh. Let's just face it, what you said is so true. My late father's family had this huge property in the province, and all of them are living in the city, when they went back there, they found out there were some families squatting in their property. They spent money in going to court to evict these people who do want to go away. Should you show pity on them? I mean, hello... if only they move out when asked then maybe people will take pity on them and let them have a piece of land to live on but by golly, some squatters are acting like they own the place and wont budge. I've seen a lot of it in the news here, so many squatters, wont just leave. The problem with some squatters here is that, they would construct a house, spend too much on it when they know the land their house was on is not theirs. and they know they are squatting and they get mad if their place is demolished.

[cadby]

Golly, building a house on property that isn't yours, that's rather an extreme form of squatting but I guess I wouldn't hold that in the same league as someone taking over an existing property which someone is temporarily away from for a holiday or having renovated or just trying to sell. Never heard this particular scenario before though...

[croslea]

@hayrene, there's a term called professional squatter. First they squat on your land, build some shanties and that shanty, if unnoticed turns into a house. They will renovate it until it has enough rooms for rent. And when the time that you'll get your land back they'll claim as if it was their own and even willing to shed blood for it. Some even have the guile to sell the rights of that land. And then they go on searching for another property to squat and the cycle continues.

[aenedleah10]

I'd be hopping mad. I do have some sympathy with some squatters. There used to be a huge house near us that was virtually derelict and had been empty for over 20 years. Squatters moved in and actually did it up rather well. There is no doubt that they ought not have been there, but they made much better neighbours than the real owner who never visited and was just leaving to house to crumble. Overall though, I don't believe that they should have any rights - they are breaking and entering in my view. Even if the door is off its hinges!

[taryn31]

Thanks for responding pikey hun. I think if a property is empty for 20 years I don't imagine the owner would be paying any sort of bills for it so I probably wouldn't feel too harshly about the squatters there. Yes, it's still breaking the law but I see how you'd have sympathy with these type of squatters. My issue would be with those cheeky squatters who move into a propery that is clearly being lived in or in the process of being renovated. Imagine going on holiday to come back to squatters. I'm not surprised at people taking the law into their own hands to get their homes back when people break in and start living in their house. It's as if the law expects you to pay for these scroungers to live in your own home and expect you to pay rent somewhere else until they get around to evicting them...

[camdin90]

To be honest, I have not heard this type of squatting before. I don't think these people should have any right to take over someone else's home. I don't think also that they should be protected by law. I have a different view though in some other type of squatting. Here in our country the most common form or type of squatting is when people build their own house/ home in someone else's vacant lot. I believe that this people should be protected by law in a way especially if they have been living in that place for almost a decade. When I say they should be protected by law it means that they should be at least given a chance to vacant the place in a humane way and given time to look for another place to move to. Besides, we have a government budget for housing. People are paying their taxes for this so I believe if this budget will be used accordingly then we will not have any squatting problem. Anyways, politically correct these people are called informal settlers instead of squatters. :) My family has this vacant residential lot and currently there are at least three or four families who built their home in that property without our permission. We talked to them though and since we will not be using the property and still have no plans of selling it we had an agreement with them that they would take care and maintain the place but they have to move out when time will come that we will need it.

[boyce]

I'm really not sure how I feel about people building a home on top of vacant land. That is a different matter for me and I'm hesitant to say people should be kicked out of a home that they've actually paid for building, although it wasn't on their OWN land in the first place. I'm quite hesitant about saying they should be kicked out of the property that they PAID for having built... When it comes to moving into someone else's home that already exists that people didn't pay for, that's when I have a real issue.

[bergh39]

That would really be an issue. If a landlord has the right to ask his boarders/ renters to move out because they are unable to pay rents for a long period of time then I believe the more we should have a right to kick out those people who squatted on our home.

[hackett]

I really don't think what you said is harsh at all. If they are not paying for the accommodation they were receiving and it is not their property, then the squatters should have zero rights. Actually, I think they should be arrested for trespassing and thrown in jail. They should also be forced to pay the bills for the time they were there. They were stealing. Plain and simple as that. This actually makes me a bit mad to read that this happened.